Written by

Marty Rosen

Special to The Courier-Journal

PATRICK O'SHEA'S

Address: 123 W. Main St.Telephone: (502) 708-2488Web: www.osheaslouisville.netCuisine: Irish pub cuisine.Alcohol: Full bar, specialty cocktails; a large beer selection, including a couple of dozen beers on tap, and many bottles; a reasonably priced list of wines.Vegetarian: Appetizers, salads, pizza.Price range: Moderate; sandwiches and burgers under $10; entrees, with sides, mostly under $15; a few items (steaks, char-grilled halibut) are priced in the high teens. Exclusive of alcohol, two people could dine for $25-$40.Reservations: Yes.Credit cards: AE, MC, V.Children's menu: Yes.Smoking: No.Access: The restaurant appears to be fully accessible for people using wheelchairs; an elevator furnishes access to all floors.Hours: Tea/coffee lounge, Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Bar/restaurant, Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m. (kitchen service until midnight); Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 a.m. (kitchen service until 1 a.m.)

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Maybe it was the country music streaming from the sound system. Maybe it was the fact that we were eating pizza. Or maybe it was because I was sitting at the bar drinking an American take on Scotch Ale (from Schlafly). Whatever the reason, on a recent visit to Patrick O'Shea's, the new downtown outpost of the O'Shea family of Irish pubs, I got the distinct impression that the Irish luminaries looking over my shoulder were ready to smack me with a shillelagh.

The oversized portraits of the expats Samuel Beckett and James Joyce looked especially dyspeptic. But even the stay-at-home literary luminaries had about them a stern, serious look. Figuring it wouldn't do any good to ask the bartender to spin some Christy Moore, I raised my glass and promised to order a Guinness next time.

That pizza, an 8-inch, hand-formed Margherita with a fine crust, a snowy blanket of fresh mozzarella, a zesty sauce and leaves of fragrant fresh basil, was good enough to trump any culinary Irish nationalism, anyway ($7.99; a 16-inch pizza runs $12.99).

And the decidedly non-Irish Patrick's Burger — with barbecue sauce, Southwestern spices and melted cheddar ($8.99) — was the sort of sandwich you can find in bars anywhere in the world that have been influenced by U.S. culture.

Cooked medium — the kitchen's default setting, though burgers can be cooked to order — it was a bit dry, served on a smashed-down, nicely grilled bun and accompanied by plenty of lettuce, tomato and onion, and a side of crisp pommes frites.

The menu at Patrick O'Shea's nods gently in the direction of an Irish theme, with dishes such as house lox on mini bagels — delicate blossoms of house-smoked salmon and scallion-inflected cream cheese perched on too-soft, barely toasted bagels ($6.99), potato-leek soup so thick it stands up in the spoon ($2.75/$3.75) and a panino stuffed with smoked ham and Irish bacon (plus brie).

But the menu aside, Patrick O'Shea's is one of those showcase pubs that helps create a fun, active urban landscape. The place is all aglitter, with polished mahogany, a sprawling bar, banquettes and tables made from repurposed lumber, a pleasant space for sipping coffee and tea in the morning, lofty ceilings, a mezzanine-level atrium that offers a bird's-eye view of the crowds beneath and glittering chandeliers that bathe the place in a warm, antique light. In short, Patrick O'Shea's is a first-class playground for grownups.

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Early on, service has been scattered — varying from benign, confused neglect at the bar to earnest confused attention at tables. And food quality has been pretty variable. But given that the other O'Shea's establishments (Flanagan's Ale House on Baxter Avenue, Brendan's Pub on Shelbyville Road and O'Shea's Irish Pub on Baxter) all offer reliable pub grub, it's likely Patrick's will round into form soon.

Already, pub classics like pommes frites (offered with such sauces as Irish curry, malt vinegar mayonnaise and Spanish smoked honey) are massive and satisfying ($5.99; $6.99 for the sweet potato version). A cup of French onion soup was beefy and none-too-salty — though it would have looked better had its covering blanket of cheese been toasted golden instead of being left snow white ($2.75/$3.75). Salads — even side salads that come with entrees and sandwiches for a $1.99 up-charge — are huge, fresh and accompanied by house-made dressings.

If fish and chips in a Southern-style cracker crumb breading didn't work, it wasn't because of the cod, which was superb. It was because a thick slab of breading hadn't quite cooked through. (Fish and chips can also be had in a Guinness-laced batter; $8.99/$11.99.)

If on one occasion a friend's Reuben sandwich was dry and barren, on other occasions it's been a deli classic. And if the classic Scottish dish corned beef and rumbledethumps was more fun to say than to eat, it wasn't because of a fundamentally flawed concept: Any dish that includes two thick slabs of pleasantly seasoned corned beef is off to a good start. It was because the rumbledethumps, described on the menu as a gratin, weren't the least gratinesque. Rather, this puree of potatoes and cabbage had been smothered under those slabs of corned beef. And when the beef was removed, what was left looked like a singularly unattractive heap of mashed potatoes covered with melted cheese.